Highly accurate AR-based operator location guidance & vision picking
ART4L and Pozyx take order fulfillment for warehouse operations to the next level and provide Smartpick guidance based on highly accurate RTLS.
The partnership between ART4L and Pozyx has resulted in one of the most powerful and most accurate vision picking applications available today. It combines accurate positioning with augmented reality technologies to provide precise picking instructions that deliver a flawless picking operation. It will help order pickers to get their job done efficiently, pinpointing the optimal route, and avoiding picking errors. The real-time location solution adjusts the route to steer clear of moving obstacles like forklifts or temporary aisle blockers like stocking pallets.
This results in picking speed and worker productivity increase, overall warehouse efficiency gain and enhanced operator safety
Believe it or not, manual logistics processes still dominate in many warehouses. In today’s demanding market, where speed, flexibility, and accuracy are required, the traditional pick-by-paper methods have reached the limits of further efficiency expectations. Obviously, there is still room for spectacular improvement and warehouse environments that integrate vision picking have witnessed double-digit percentages in picking speed and efficiency increase.
Combining ART4L’s warehouse guiding solution with the real-time positioning system from Pozyx increases order picking productivity in warehousing operations
Pozyx infrastructure and location data
The Pozyx positioning system combines anchors with tags to create an RTLS, a real-time location system.
Anchors create the backbone of the Pozyx RTLS infrastructure and provide robust UWB positioning data that fuel the Smartpick application.
The Pozyx tags track the position and movement of order pickers and operators or any asset, forklift, autonomous vehicle, or equipment within the RTLS UWB solution. The Pozyx tags position and track people and assets in real-time with high accuracy.
The state-of-the-art UWB technology, delivers precise positioning data, accurate up to 10 cm and exactly this level of accuracy is needed for precise order picking workflows. The Pozyx RTLS system scales with the needs of a growing project to support both small and large surface warehouses to track thousands of assets.
ART4L Smartpick
Smartpick unifies data from the ERP or WMS, the warehouse layout and operator live positions to minimize search and walking times, avoid congestion, and optimize the throughput of the warehouse.
ART4L combines the Pozyx location data with order details from the WMS (Warehouse Management System) and proprietary or third-party AI algorithms to calculate the optimal operator routes in the warehouse. The operator guidance system is derived from the warehouse floorplan and aisle layout combined with the real-time asset, vehicle or person tracking location data and is updated continuously during operation.
The ART4L operator guidance instructions can be delivered on smart glasses with AR (Augmented Reality) as well as traditional devices such as scanners, wrist computers or tablets in vehicles and forklifts. Operators see their instructions in the AR glasses, showing the map of the warehouse, overlaid with optimal routes to the next task location.
The system will find and communicate the optimal operator or forklift route and guide the operator to the correct location and AR provides information for picking or dropping.
In short, the Smartpick system will reduce travel time, optimize pick routes, reduce picking errors, and boost warehouse worker performance.
Safety first
Smartpick also enables dynamic routing to avoid congestion in high-traffic environments and to prevent collisions and will re-organize tasks and routes to increase the overall warehouse safety and performance.
Hands-free order picking for balanced ergonomics
The Smartpick solution assists operators with hands-free picking instructions. By displaying the information on the smart glasses, the paper picking list containing information about storage location and picking orders can finally be discarded. The operators can have both hands free to perform their actual tasks and should not worry about the picking list, enhancing ergonomics and reducing stress.
Onboarding and training new personnel
Warehousing personnel is hard to find and a high attrition rate adds to the challenge of keeping a well-trained team in place. Temporary workers are often used for filling the gaps in the labor schedules and to intercept seasonal load peaks.
The user interface is intuitive and easy to understand and learn, leading to high user acceptance. With universally recognizable visual instructions in the AR glasses, the training is reduced to a minimum, often 15 minutes or less, opening the floor to people speaking other languages or with different qualification levels. Smartpick eliminates guesswork and unnecessary steps, resulting in reduced worker fatigue, a low-stress environment, and eventually better employee retention.
Benefits in a nutshell
- Vision picking with voice commands for higher picking speed
- Reduced picking errors
- Error warning: mistakes are flagged for correction to avoid costly errors
- Operator location guidance for efficient route navigation, reducing search and travel time
- Collision avoidance
- Improved operator warehouse safety
- Faster and effective training for new or temporary order pickers
- Flexible WMS/ERP connectivity and operator device integration with minimal programming
- Performance logs and preventive analytics
The combined solution from ART4L and Pozyx is live in Fabriek Logistiek, the Belgian test and demo center which is fully equipped with state-of-the art warehouse and logistics technologies.
Please contact us to discuss your warehouse challenges and schedule a demo.
